diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/gnome/core/gnome-shell/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/gnome/core/gnome-shell/default.nix
index 3b89ceb78172..07ccb0f516cf 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/gnome/core/gnome-shell/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/gnome/core/gnome-shell/default.nix
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@
 , evolution-data-server
 , gtk3
 , gtk4
+, libadwaita
 , sassc
 , systemd
 , pipewire
@@ -66,13 +67,13 @@ let
 in
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "gnome-shell";
-  version = "41.4";
+  version = "42.beta";
 
   outputs = [ "out" "devdoc" ];
 
   src = fetchurl {
     url = "mirror://gnome/sources/gnome-shell/${lib.versions.major version}/${pname}-${version}.tar.xz";
-    sha256 = "x+73SvMEZJwDuG25m9C6x1oBH7/2d0yO41WD282tivQ=";
+    sha256 = "2jVPkpxtq0gK/7GpzpFyVRc5CuIfV0R/TB8QW/HR0Rc=";
   };
 
   patches = [
@@ -118,7 +119,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     sassc
     desktop-file-utils
     libxslt.bin
-    python3
     asciidoc
   ];
 
@@ -142,6 +142,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     libical
     gtk3
     gtk4
+    libadwaita
     gdm
     geoclue2
     adwaita-icon-theme
@@ -169,6 +170,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     bash-completion
     gnome-autoar
     json-glib
+
+    # for tools
+    pythonEnv
   ];
 
   mesonFlags = [
@@ -177,14 +181,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   postPatch = ''
     patchShebangs src/data-to-c.pl
-    chmod +x meson/postinstall.py
-    patchShebangs meson/postinstall.py
 
     # We can generate it ourselves.
     rm -f man/gnome-shell.1
-
-    substituteInPlace src/gnome-shell-extension-tool.in --replace "@PYTHON@" "${pythonEnv}/bin/python"
-    substituteInPlace src/gnome-shell-perf-tool.in --replace "@PYTHON@" "${pythonEnv}/bin/python"
   '';
 
   preFixup = ''
diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/gnome/core/gnome-shell/wrap-services.patch b/pkgs/desktops/gnome/core/gnome-shell/wrap-services.patch
index bc494caea9dd..5ce4a2fd46d7 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/gnome/core/gnome-shell/wrap-services.patch
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/gnome/core/gnome-shell/wrap-services.patch
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 diff --git a/js/dbusServices/dbus-service.in b/js/dbusServices/dbus-service.in
 old mode 100644
 new mode 100755
-index 524166102..100b81a63
+index 524166102..6d0722a1c
 --- a/js/dbusServices/dbus-service.in
 +++ b/js/dbusServices/dbus-service.in
 @@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
@@ -24,18 +24,18 @@ index 3b0d09abe..4fd4bb66d 100644
 -Exec=@gjs@ @pkgdatadir@/@service@
 +Exec=@pkgdatadir@/@service@
 diff --git a/js/dbusServices/meson.build b/js/dbusServices/meson.build
-index c749f45dc..11bcb0c9e 100644
+index eb941ed90..552051e5a 100644
 --- a/js/dbusServices/meson.build
 +++ b/js/dbusServices/meson.build
 @@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ launcherconf = configuration_data()
  launcherconf.set('PACKAGE_NAME', meson.project_name())
  launcherconf.set('prefix', prefix)
  launcherconf.set('libdir', libdir)
-+launcherconf.set('gjs', gjs.path())
++launcherconf.set('gjs', gjs.full_path())
  
  dbus_services = {
    'org.gnome.Shell.Extensions': 'extensions',
-@@ -11,16 +12,17 @@ dbus_services = {
+@@ -18,16 +19,17 @@ endif
  config_dir = '@0@/..'.format(meson.current_build_dir())
  
  foreach service, dir : dbus_services
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ index c749f45dc..11bcb0c9e 100644
  
    serviceconf = configuration_data()
    serviceconf.set('service', service)
--  serviceconf.set('gjs', gjs.path())
+-  serviceconf.set('gjs', gjs.full_path())
    serviceconf.set('pkgdatadir', pkgdatadir)
  
    configure_file(